Path of the Jedi
by ThreeBulletNecklace
Summary: A disturbing Force vision and a secret, potentially deadly mission from the Jedi Council draws new Jedi Knight Max Starfield into a far reaching plot against the Jedi, and a subsequent reunion with an old friend threatens to stir up buried feelings that could threaten her future in the Order. Eventual smut. Pricefield.
1. Chapter 1 - Sithspit

**Author's Note:** I own neither Life is Strange or Star Wars. I'm just a fan who's mashing up their respective universes in a fic that probably no one asked for.

I hope you enjoy it.

 ** **Path of the Jedi****

 ** **Chapter 1 – Sithspit****

 _ _A massive, elliptical starship hovers over the city-planet of Coruscant, directly over the Jedi Temple. Armour-piercing warheads rain down by the hundreds from dozens of missile ports on the underside of its obsidian hull, the warheads punching easily through the outer layers of the Temple like a red-hot vibroblade through flesh. As each missile comes to rest, either on the Temple grounds or directly inside, it detonates, releasing a noxious red gas and turning the sky a bloody crimson.__

 _ _Thousands of Jedi are instantly affected. They keel over, howling in pain and clutching their heads. Some of them vomit. Some try to run, to no avail. The lucky ones are instantly killed by the detonating warheads and lethal shrapnel. But all who turn to the Force for aid realize: they can't feel it, as it it had just disappeared, or been ripped away from them.__

 _ _A lone Jedi watches from the bridge of the starship, horrified, knowing she had failed utterly. She knew the destruction raining down upon the Order was her fault, and her fault alone. As tears of horror track down her face, a voice, sonorous and distorted through a heavy mask's vocoder, sounds behind her.__

 _"_ _ _I told you it would come to this. That I would deliver glorious retribution upon the galactic cancer that is the Jedi Order."__

 _"_ _ _How could you do this? You're a monster. You're... inhuman." She finds herself saying.__

 _"_ _ _I care not for your tawdry insults." The voice retorts. "But do not worry. You'll be reunited with your pathetic Jedi peers rather... imminently."__

 _ _She hears the snap-hiss of a lightsaber blade igniting, and a second later her nervous system flashes in blinding agony, as the tip of a sanguine red blade erupts from her throat. She can't even cry out before she collapses, her vocal chords have been completely burned through . As the world dims, her last thought is of how distraught a blue-haired pilot would be...__

In the darkness of her chambers, Max Starfield, newly anointed Jedi Knight, catapulted into wakefulness. Within a second, her lightsaber was in her hand and glowing a deadly, white-hot blue. Her eyes darted around the room wildly, searching for any threats, or anything that might cause her harm. After a moment, when nothing attacked her, she shut off the lightsaber and groaned. She reached into the Force, more out of a need for comfort than anything else, and confirmed there was nothing in the room with her.

She realised she was drenched in sweat, and panting, hard. It took a long time for her to force herself to relax. In the end, not even meditating did the trick: she had to reach out and let the current of the Force take her, momentarily surrendering the notion of self, and becoming one with that great, mystical energy flow.

Max opened her eyes, and let out a deep breath. "What the sithspit was __that__ about?" she wondered aloud.

The Force vision, for it couldn't have been anything else, had been incredibly vivid. More so than usual. She had always had a great affinity for sensing the past and the future; something about the Force wanted her to have an exceptionally strong command, perhaps the strongest in her generation, of how she could view time. This talent had proven to be an invaluable one in all her years as a padawan, and had been instrumental in her rapid ascension to the status of Jedi Knight. She knew she was still considered to be on the young side of a fully-fledged Knight, at only 20, and as such she was determined to not only live up to, but exceed the expectations of her Masters.

But none of that occupied her mind at that particular moment, for Max was still deeply troubled by her vision. It was almost unheard of for them to be wrong: which made her worried that, in all probability, something very, very bad was going to befall the Temple and her fellow Jedi.

She felt the first tendrils of fear worm their way into her mind, gripping her in an icy embrace. __No__. She thought. __You know where that leads. Master Yoda always says fear is the path to the Dark Side. Calm down__.

She forced the offending emotions out of her brain, and got out of bed. She looked down, noting her sweat covered sleeping garments. __I should probably shower. It'll make me feel better. Maybe.__

She stripped off the damp clothing and dumped it into the generic cleaning compartment embedded into the wall. She heard a muffled __whumph__ as the garments were whisked away, and would be returned clean as a whistle mere minutes later. Now entirely naked, she shivered a little. The Temple's hab settings were sometimes a little lower than she would have liked.

She stepped into the small en-suite bathroom, anxious to feel the warmth of the powerful, soul-cleansing shower. Sure, Jedi surrendered all possessions and attachments, but that didn't mean they couldn't enjoy the occasional creature comfort. Opting to forego the sonic shower setting, she went straight for water, and pressed the activation button. As the hot, steaming liquid hit her skin, Max sighed. There was nothing the pounding pressure of almost scalding water to ease the mind. She spent a long while in the shower, electing to simply stay under the steady stream once she had finished her usual routine.

Eventually, she shut it off, not without a lingering sense of regret. She quickly towelled herself dry and headed for her room's modest wardrobe, where she selected one of several sets of grey robes with white trim. As she tugged the tunic over her head, she noticed a blinking light on her comlink, indicating a waiting holo-call. With a flick of the Force, Max pushed the relevant button. An image flickered into being, resolving itself after a brief second into the friendly face of Master Grant.

"Master Grant." Max greeted her with a bow.

"Max." She smiled and bowed back.

"Can I do something for you, Master?" Max queried. "This is kind of an early hour for a call." She continued, noting for the first time that the hour was indeed still early.

Master Grant smiled again. "Apologies for disturbing you at such an early hour. And it's not me you can do something for, but the Council. They've requested your presence, as soon as possible."

Max's stomach dropped. "The Council... Did they say why?"

Master Grant shook her head. "They said nothing else, but I got the impression it was important."

Max squared herself. "Very well. I'll go to the Council chambers immediately. May the Force be with you, Master."

"And also with you."

The call terminated, leaving Max with a million thoughts. "This can't be good." She groaned to herself.

She had no idea how right she was.

The Temple was practically deserted as Max walked towards the central turbolift, save for a few early risers, who were either speaking in hushed pairs or deep in study. Max recognised a few, and whenever she was noticed, she received a nod in greeting. She politely nodded back, and continued on her way.

As she approached the turbolift, the security attendant stationed outside clocked her, and after giving her a quick once-over and glancing at a datapad, waved her on. She mumbled a thank you as she passed, which the attendant acknowledged with a tip of his hat.

She entered the lift and pressed the button that would take her to the central Council chamber. As the turbolift began its smooth ascent upwards, she squared her shoulders and mentally composed herself.

 _ _I hope I'm not in any trouble. I mean, I don't think I've done anything wrong... At least not recently__. She thought, casting her mind back to the time a few weeks ago when Jocasta Nu, the Temple archive keeper, had found her asleep and drooling on a fairly important record.

Max was spared however, from the embarrassing memory by the turbolift passing by several tall windows, affording her a spectacular view over dozens of miles of Coruscant's mottled grey landscape. The sun had just begun to creep over the edge of the artificial horizon, saturating the mists and vapours generated by the city-planet in a fuzzy orange glow. It really was a breath-taking vista, Max reflected, knowing she was extremely privileged to be enjoying such a view. Not everyone on Coruscant was that lucky.

After a minute or so, the turbolift slowed and came to a stop. The doors opened with a soft hiss, and Max was greeted by the large doors, emblazoned with the millenia-old Jedi insignia, that led to the inner Council chambers. With a hint of apprehension, she strode forwards.

The doors opened silently, as if they were inviting her in. The sun also shone directly through them, blinding Max for a brief instant. When her vision cleared, she saw that all twelve Masters were present. That was definitely Not A Good Thing, according to her. Hesitantly, she shuffled into the middle of the chamber, feeling twelve pairs of eyes watching her. She had never been in the chamber when every member had been present before.

"M-Masters." She greeted them, unable to keep her voice from wavering, a clear sign of how nervous she felt.

Master Yoda was the first to speak. He smiled a wry, oddly shrewd smile that had Max convinced he knew exactly what she had been thinking.

"Worried, you should not be." He intoned, amusement evident in his voice. "Nothing wrong, you have done."

Max could be seen to visibly relaxed, something that wasn't missed by Master Kit Fisto. "Master Nu may have other opinions on that." He intoned, a grin on his face.

Max flushed, two large scarlet blotches appearing on her cheeks.

"Don't tease the poor girl." Interjected Ki-Adi-Mundi, before turning to her. "You must be wondering why we summoned you here?" He gently prompted.

"Yes, Master." Max replied gratefully, eager to direct the conversation away from the subject of Jocasta Nu's wrath.

"We'll get right to it." Mace Windu spoke up. "Though before we do, we trust that none of what you are about to hear will go beyond these chambers, and that you will treat this matter with the utmost discretion?"

"Of course, Master Windu." Max said, though internally, her curiosity was piqued.

"Very well. Two nights ago, the secure archive, containing thousands of years of Jedi lore, was broken into. I probably don't need to tell you how serious something like that is, as our security is nigh-impossible to get through."

"The thief only took one thing." He continued. "An ancient book, containing some... sensitive information about the Jedi that we would rather not become public knowledge. It could prove to be incredibly dangerous for us if it did."

"Wait, an actual, physical book? Not a record?" Max interjected.

"We did say it was ancient." Said Ki-Adi-Mundi.

"Yes. And that's led us to believe the thief knew exactly what he was looking for." Plo Koon added. "This was a targeted strike, with a clear objective."

"But, what's in this book that makes it so dangerous?" Max asked.

"That's for us to worry about." Mace said, with an air of finality that suggested she should not take that particular line of questioning any further. "What we want you to do, is find whoever took the book, and retrieve it before they can do anything with its knowledge."

Max almost blanched. The Council wanted her for this mission? Surely there had to be some kind of mistake, or someone else they could send? There was no way she was the right person. No way.

"Y-you want me to- to do this?" The young Jedi found herself saying. "I only just passed the Trials... I mean no disrespect, but surely there's someone better suited?"

Yoda tapped his cane on the floor, and all attention turned to the diminutive Jedi. "No one more suited, there is." He spoke in a solemn, yet strangely comforting tone. "Confident we are, in you, young Jedi."

"But... why me?"

"An extraordinary aptitude, you have, for sensing both the future and the past. Prove vital, this could, for your investigation, and for the survival of the Jedi."

This time, Max did blanche. __The survival of the Jedi? What does he mean by that, surely he can't be serious?__

A brief silence fell upon the room as Max digested the information she'd been given. A silence that was broken shortly by Adi Gallia.

"We suggest seeing the head of Temple security first." She said, offering Max an encouraging smile. "He may know more about the break in."

Her words brought Max back to the present. "Then I shall start there. Thank you Master."

"After you've seen him, go to the Temple requisition station. We have given permission for a droid to assist you in your task." Adi finished.

Mace once again picked up the thread. "Now, unless you have any further questions, we wish you to begin at once. And one more thing, this mission is not for the record, and is to be carried out in secret. No one can know, understand?"

"Yes Master."

"Good. May the Force be with you, young Master Starfield."

"May the Force be with you." The other members echoed.

Max bowed deeply, and, shaking slightly, took her leave from the chamber. She summoned the turbolift once more, and only once she was safely inside did she release the giant panic breath she'd been holding.

"Well, Sithspit." She said.

 **Author's Note:** So I hope I set the scene well enough. In all honesty, I hate exposition dumps, which is mostly what this first chapter consists of. Any feedback would be hugely appreciated, as this is my first crossover fic. So if anything seems out of place, please tell me.

Anyway I hope this chapter was enjoyable enough. Next time: a lightsaber duel, a decidedly odd droid, and the plot thickens. May the Force be hella with you.


	2. Chapter 2 - The Droid and the Duel

**Author's Note:** The crossover fic that no one asked for continues! Hope you guys enjoy this chapter.

Again, I own neither Life is Strange or Star Wars. If I did, I wouldn't be publishing fanfiction.

 **Chapter 2 – The Droid and the Duel**

 _ _Okay. So. No big deal. It's your first mission as a Jedi Knight, it's not even official, and the fate of the entire Order possibly rests on tiny little me. No pressure Max, you got this.__

Max groaned.

 _ _I so do not got this.__

She stepped off the turbolift, and made it a few paces before she had to lean against a wall to stop herself from feeling overwhelmed. She placed a palm onto the cool stone and closed her eyes, letting herself sink into the bottomless ocean of Force energy that permeated every square foot of the Temple. Its calming presence grasped her warmly, like a hug from an old friend. Mere moments later, she felt calm and ready, and she was going to give this mission her all.

She opened her eyes, set her robes straight, and made for the security station. It took her a good ten minutes to travel there, the Temple was vast and the security nexus was located deep within one of the most protected parts of the Temple. As Max approached, slightly out of breath from the long walk, a Temple guard stepped into her path, blocking her with a raised hand. He tilted his head, no doubt receiving some kind of internal communication behind his expressionless mask. After a moment, he nodded and stepped aside, waving Max through.

She nodded politely at the guard, who didn't react in the slightest, then stepped towards the doors. They whisked silently open, and when she stepped through, shut just as soundlessly. A Jedi sat at a desk in front of her, reading a datapad with a slight but still perceptible frown drawing his brows together. Unlike most senior Jedi, he had his hair cropped short, eschewing the longer fashion more prevalent in other Jedi of similar rank. His jaw was covered in five o'clock shadow, something that seemed out of place given how tidy the rest of his appearance was. He wore navy blue robes, with a dark grey cloak thrown over the back of his chair.

He looked up as Max entered, and surprised her by greeting her first with a slight nod.

"Master." She greeted him in return, accompanying the honorific with the customary bow.

To her continued surprise, he grimaced.

"I don't go in for any o' that "master" kriff." He said, in a gravelly, slightly drawling voice that Max recognised as coming from the southern parts of Corellia. "You can call me David. And knock off the bowing while you're at it. Damn Jedi politeness is gonna be the death of us."

"Well sit yourself down." He said when Max was a little too flabbergasted to respond, gesturing to one of the two seats in front of his desk.

She promptly did so. She opened her mouth to speak, but before she could do so, David cut her off.

"You've probably heard of me. Or, at least, you know my reputation." He said. "The Council, and everyone else for that matter, tend to view me as kinda irascible. Stubborn, even." An odd expression adorned his face, something between pride and perhaps resentment. "You heard anything like that?" He finished.

Max swallowed. "Maybe just a little bit Mas- David." She quickly caught herself.

"Hrm. Thought as such." He cracked his knuckles, each producing a popping sound, painfully loud in the otherwise quiet room. "They're right about me. I am stubborn. I've been pushing for better security for years, saying it's only a matter of time before someone had some hare-brained scheme and made us look like idiots. It's probably why they shoved me down here," he chuckled, "Probably to shut me up. But I was right, in the end." He said, somewhat ruefully.

"That's-" Max began.

"Why you're here, I know." He finished for her.

Max nodded. "Are there any leads? Anything to go on?"

His eyes narrowed. "Just one." He reached below the desk, and pulled out a thin, hexagonal device, glossy black in colour, but otherwise with no distinguishing features. "Whoever broke into the archives left this."

"What is it?" Max queried.

"It's a type of disruptor. It nullifies security fields and jams any kind of holocam. And while it can't fool line of sight, it renders the user practically invisible to any kind of electronic device. It's also top of the line, military grade tech, and highly illegal."

Max frowned. "How would someone even get something like this?"

"Normally, you don't. But luckily for you, I did some digging with a few old contacts. And there just happens to be a shipment on sale, right here on Coruscant. Whoever broke in likely got it from the seller."

Max's heart rate spiked. "And the seller could point me to the thief!" She exclaimed. "Where do I go?"

"That's the problem." David grimaced again. "It's on level 1313."

Her stomach felt like it had dropped through the floor. "1313..." She whispered.

"I'm afraid so." David said gravely. "Home to the worst scum and villainy on the planet, and dangerous even to a Jedi. You best keep a low profile. Oh and a bit of free advice, when you go: don't wear a robe. Dead giveaway that you don't belong."

Max nodded, momentarily too nervous for words.

David handed her a datapad. "Here's where you wanna go: the Buss'ka district. You're looking for a Rodian called Peej. He shouldn't be hard to find, guy's kinda... flamboyant. Likes to dress fancy."

"I'll make sure to remember that." Max said. "Is that everything?"

"Yup."

"Very well. Thank you, David." She rose from her chair.

"Good luck, kid." David said, leaning back in his.

She nodded, and made for the door. Just as she was about to step through, he called her name.

"Max. May the Force be with you. You're gonna need it."

With that ominous tone, the door slid shut.

Thirty standard minutes later, Max was reasonably confident she had assembled everything necessary for a trip into Coruscant's seedy underbelly. She cast her eye over the array of items spread across her bed once again, scanning for anything obvious she had missed. Satisfied, she turned her gaze onto herself, inspecting her new outfit. It was mostly black, and strategically tattered, to give it a hopefully worn appearance. She flexed her toes within the confines of the hard leather boots. They were definitely much less comfortable than her standard Jedi-issue pair. She scowled at them, willing the boots to be more comfortable. The boots did not oblige.

Grumbling under her breath, Max gathered the rest of her items and made a swift exit from her chambers. __What do I need next?__ She asked herself. __Oh right! The droid I was given. I should probably go pick it up.__ She made an about-turn, and headed the opposite way down the corridor, in the direction of the dual workshop and droid bay.

When she arrived however, out of breath for the second time that day from another unnecessarily long walk __(Why do we have to walk everywhere? What's wrong with using a few hover platforms? Master Yoda gets one...).__ She found the droid bays were practically empty, save for one bay containing a pile of parts, and another with a battered-looking astromech.

"Excuse me?" Max said, turning to the nearest attendant, who put down the spare part she was tinkering with and looked up, greeting her with an open expression.

"My name is Max Starfield. I'm meant to be picking a droid up? The Council told me one had been reserved for me."

The attendant frowned, and then her expression cleared as she appeared to remember. "Ah yes, we did receive that message. Though unfortunately," she gestured to the empty workshop, "We don't have a lot of choice. Demand for droids has been abnormally high for the past few weeks, so I'm afraid the only one left is this little guy." She said, pointing to the battered astromech in the corner.

""Guy"?" Max said, a little perplexed. "I thought all we just called all droids "it"?"

"Oh this one's definitely a guy." The attendant told her. "He's too fond of getting into mischief to be a girl." She bent down and removed the restraining bolt. The astromech promptly powered up, emitting a series of almost delighted-sounding beeps and whistles.

"Max, this is W4-R3N. W4-R3N, this is Max. She'll be your new master for the foreseeable future."

Max knelt down, bringing her face level with the astro's camera port. "Hey little guy." She raised a hand in greeting. "I'm Max."

W4-R3N tootled something, his camera nodule whirring quietly as it focused on Max's face. She got the sense that, if the droid could have tilted its head, it would have. It whistled again, seemingly pleased.

Max looked at the attendant. "Um, this is a little embarrassing, but I don't know any droidspeak. What's he saying?"

The attendant, surprisingly, was masking some slight giggles. She cleared her throat, trying and failing to pass her amusement off as a cough. "He, uh, he said you have pleasingly symmetrical facial features for an organic."

"Uh, thanks? I think?" She cast a vaguely perplexed look at the droid.

W4-R3N simply emitted a series of beeps that sounded suspiciously like "You're welcome."

The attendant chuckled. "Don't encourage him too much, he likes to flirt."

"A droid that flirts, huh?" Max said.

"Oh don't worry, he's harmless. Just give him a thump on the dome if he does irritate you, though."

Max giggled. "I'll be sure to do that." She motioned to the astromech. "C'mon, we've got work to do." She gave a short bow to the attendant, who smiled and returned the gesture. Then, she made for the doors, with W4-R3N in tow, whistling happily.

Max walked through the endless corridors of the Temple, trying to tune out the near-incessant beeps and whistles from her robotic companion. After a particularly long series of tootles she privately suspected went on for over a minute, she fixed W4-R3N with a pointed look, and poked him on the dome.

"You know, you're the most vocal astromech I've ever met." She said.

W4-R3N rocked back and forth, and made a sound she could have sworn was the astromech equivalent of a snort.

"I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that." She teased the droid.

W4-R3N chortled, and Max rolled her eyes.

"No wonder you were the only astro left." She mumbled to herself.

The pair set off again, heading in the general direction of the speeder bay. As she walked, Max mentally reviewed the information and equipment she had been given, hoping it would make her feel better about her imminent trip into Coruscant's dangerous underworld.

It didn't.

No matter how many times she tried to tell herself she was as prepared as she could be, Max still felt nowhere near ready. The shadows of doubt lingered within her mind, threatening to turn into daggers of fear. __And you know where that leads...__ A slithering, whisper-shrouded voice in her mind said.

So preoccupied was she with her own thoughts that she almost failed to notice a sharp spike in the Force, barely a few metres in front of her. A tall, thin figure darted out from behind a pillar, positioning itself deliberately in her path.

Max automatically fell back into a defensive stance, knees bent, left hand out in front of her ready to Force push her perceived assailant away. Her right went for her lightsaber, and in less than a second had unclipped it from her belt. She brought it out in front of her, and was less than a millisecond from activating it before her brain snapped into gear, and suddenly recognised the person stood in front of her.

"Oh for... Don't do that, Victoria. I was a second away from seriously hurting you." Max complained, more annoyed at herself for her lack of concentration.

"Please, like you could have even touched me." Victoria said haughtily. "Everyone knows I'm better than you anyway."

Max rolled her eyes, and made to step around the taller woman.

Victoria blocked her.

"Victoria, I don't have time for your pride right now. Will you please just get out of the way?" Max said exasperatedly.

Victoria fixed her with a scowl. "No, I won't. And you, first you're promoted to Knight before me, even though I'm clearly more skilled than you, and then the Council gives you some special mission? No. I'm not accepting that."

"Wait." Max was confused. "How do you know about that?"

"Please." Victoria smirked. "I know everything that goes on around here. Besides, we both know you've only gotten so far through blatant favouritism." She lifted her arm, pointing an accusatory finger at Max. "We're going to settle this. Permanently."

Max sighed in frustration. "I don't have time for a grudge match. Now will you please just drop this?"

"No!" Victoria growled. "You're going to duel me, otherwise I'll tell everyone I see about your special little mission. I'm sure the Council would __love__ to hear everyone talking about something that's meant to be secret."

Backed into a corner, Max could only glare at her. "Fine. Where and when?"

"The duelling practice chambers. Right now." Victoria said, crowing in victory. She turned on her heel, and strode off towards the practice grounds, only turning back for a second to beckon Max to follow.

Max sighed, and followed, W4-R3N at her heels. He chirped something that Max correctly assumed meant "Kick her ass".

"Don't worry, she'll get what's coming to her." Max assured him.

A short while later, they arrived at the duelling chambers. Still early on in the day, they were practically empty. Victoria selected one and walked confidently into the middle of the chamber. It resembled an ancient gladiatorial arena, circular in shape and around fifty feet in diameter. A balcony wrapped around the circumference for any Jedi wishing to spectate, as duelling was always a popular activity, especially among the younger, more confident Jedi.

Victoria turned to face Max. She drew her lightsaber from the belt of her dull gold robe, and took up an aggressive, hawk-like stance. "Well?" She raised the lightsaber over her head, further accentuating her form, and ignited the blade. A bright yellow bar of energy erupted from the hilt with a vicious __snap-hiss.__ "Fight me." Victoria demanded.

Max didn't bother replying. She settled back into a her favoured defensive stance, bringing her lightsaber hilt up so that it ran parallel to the side of her head, as if she was drawing a bow. She extended her left arm in front of her once again, and, finally, activated the lightsaber. The blue blade leapt forth, humming with deadly energy and pointing directly at her opponent.

Victoria wasted no time. Her scowl deepened, and she crouched slightly, imbuing her stance with coiled energy. An instant later, she leapt forward with deadly ferocity, bringing her blade down hard in an overhead strike.

Max had less than a second to react. She shifted her weight onto her back leg and brought her own lightsaber up to block Victoria's attack. Yellow met blue with a thunderous clash of energy, sparks flying from the force of the blow.

Max stared past their locked blades with grim determination, straight into the eyes of her opponent. Victoria glared back, eyes full of nothing but contempt.

Their duel had begun.

 **Author's Note:** Holy shit a cliffhanger! Is that lazy of me? Nah, I don't care.

You may have noticed I sort of turned Warren into a droid. So to all you Warren fans, I am profoundly sorry. There's a couple of good reasons, I promise. One, I wanted to preclude any possibility of there being a love triangle, as this is exclusively a Pricefield fic. Two, I'm not the biggest fan of writing Warren, and I'm honestly not that great at writing dudes, I much prefer writing women. Three, I just thought it was funny. Though don't worry, I intend to give W4-R3N some fun stuff to do [insert joke about dataports].

Next time: an action packed chapter, featuring the conclusion to the duel and Max's mission to level 1313, where obviously things aren't going to go to plan. May the Force be hella with you.


	3. Chapter 3 - 1313

**Chapter 3 – 1313**

Blades clashed in a whirl of blue and yellow energy. The two combatants battled back and forth, neither willing to give ground. Max parried a particularly vicious blow, barely managing to deflect it off to the side. She was no slouch at lightsaber combat, but Victoria had always been a total natural, and been consistently ranked first among her generation of Jedi since their early years as Padawans.

It didn't help that Victoria favoured an aggressively fast version of the fourth form of lightsaber combat: Ataru. This form, which relied heavily on acrobatics, leaping, and fast, heavy strikes, was something of a challenge for her to counter. Max herself favoured form three, Soresu, which focused on defense and was more suited to deflecting blaster bolts than blocking another lightsaber. The form did have one advantage though; as Soresu focused on defense, it featured quick, nimble and precise footwork, which proved quite adept at nullifying the worst of Victoria's leaps and spins.

As if on cue, Victoria leapt forward, swinging her lightsaber hard and fast at Max's left hip. Max reacted instinctively, shifting her feet ever so slightly to the right in order to use her opponent's momentum against her. As the yellow blade hit her blue one, she swivelled on her heel and pushed to her left, sending Victoria off to one side and consequently off-balance. Max followed up with a simple Force push, directly into Victoria's back. Victoria yelped as it hit her and sent her careening into a wall. She hit it face first, producing a sharp clang that echoed round the room.

A small cheer sounded from above, and Max looked up to see a young human Padawan, who couldn't have been more than nine or ten, watching the duel with rapt interest.

"Figures we'd attract attention..." Max muttered to herself. She turned back to a stunned Victoria, trying to put the fact that they now had an audience out of her mind.

As Max faced her again, Victoria spat blood onto the floor, and upon briefly glancing at the bright red globule, noticed it contained half a tooth. Her eyes widened, and she snapped her gaze back to Max, glaring bloody murder. "You're gonna pay for that." She promised.

Max met her gaze and said nothing. She raised her lightsaber.

Victoria attacked with all the strength and force of a valkyrie, raining an endless avalanche of blows down on Max. Max faltered under the relentless barrage, barely able to bring her lightsaber up in time to parry Victoria's devastating attacks. She found herself being forced swiftly backwards, shedding ground far quicker than she would have liked, only just managing to keep a decent amount of distance between her and Victoria.

In a matter of seconds, she lost half of the width of the chamber. If the fight continued along its present course, I the next few moments, she would have her back up against the wall.

As if sensing victory was near, Victoria pressed her advantage, forcing Max back even further with a flurry of viper-fast blows. Max's back collided with the wall, and her defence went from faltering to outright desperate. Robbed of the room to use footwork to aid her defence, Max was forced to rely on nothing but parrying, something that wouldn't last long against an opponent as skilled as Victoria.

In desperation, she took a page out of Victoria's book, and leapt, straight up and over a brutal horizontal slash. Max landed, briefly, on Victoria's shoulders, which she used as a springboard to catapult herself forward through the air. Midway through her arc, she flipped, adding in a sideways twist to reverse her direction. Max landed elegantly in the middle of the arena, facing Victoria. Max noticed, with some satisfaction, that she looked stunned; eyes wide and mouth agape.

With a sudden burst of confidence, Max winked at her.

Victoria snapped her mouth shut. "Cute." She growled through gritted teeth. "But a dumb little move like that won't stop me from beating you."

Max didn't answer. Slowly, she brought her lightsaber up, holding directly in front of her face. She closed her eyes.

Victoria leapt, only giving Max an instant to prepare. But that instant was enough for what Max needed to do.

She sank into the Force, feeling it envelop her, taking control of her arms, her legs and her entire body.

Her kind remained clear, and sharp as a scythe. She knew precisely where Victoria was going to land, how she would strike, and how she was going to follow up. It was as if she could _see_ the rest of the fight in her head, like watching a holofilm, and all she had to do was follow along. This was Max's true gift, and as long as she had it, Victoria could never beat her.

A yellow blade struck down from on high, almost too fast to see. But Max was no longer in its path. She had moved to the side, only slightly, but enough to avoid the blow.

Victoria recovered quickly, and lashed out behind her, as Max knew she would. Max locked blades with her, blocking Victoria's shimmering yellow bar of energy easily, and with the Force, reached out and dragged Victoria's right leg half a foot towards her, shifting her balance just enough.

Max deactivated her lightsaber, allowing Victoria's lightsaber to hum through empty space. She dropped, and, extending one leg, kicked Victoria's feet out from under her.

Victoria yelped, and fell forwards, hitting the floor with a solid thud. She rolled over, but Max was already standing over her, her lightsaber pointed directly at her throat. The blade wasn't activated, but it didn't need to be. Max had won, and they both knew it.

But before either of them could do anything, each of them felt a Force grip as strong as durasteel take hold of them.

Jedi Master Shaak Ti descended gracefully into the arena. "What are you doing?" She said, calmly, but with an underlying strength that let Max know she was not happy at all.

"Duelling without permission or oversight is against Temple regulations." Master Ti continued. "You both know this." She relaxed the Force hold she had over them ever so slightly. "Explain yourselves."

Max opened her mouth, ready to make her excuses, but she was beaten to the punch.

"Master?" A small voice came.

Max flicked her eyes upwards, and saw the same Padawan from earlier. He looked nervous, but was apparently intent on having his say.

If Master Ti was surprised at the interruption, she didn't show it. "Padawan." She said. "Did you see what happened?"

He nodded. "She was defending herself." He pointed at Max. "But it was her who wanted to fight." He redirected his finger to Victoria.

Master Ti nodded. "Thank you, young Padawan." She turned to Max and Victoria. "Is this true?"

Nervously, Max nodded. Victoria did nothing, and just stared.

"Very well." Shaak Ti appeared to reach a decision. "Victoria, you come with me. We shall discuss this further. At _great_ length. And Max," she turned to face her, "I would bring you with us as well, but I know you have... other duties to attend to. You may not entirely be the guilty party here, but you should not have let yourself be drawn into this."

With that, she departed swiftly, taking Victoria with her.

Max let out a shaky breath she didn't know she had been holding. She heard the tap of boots behind her, and turned to find the young Padawan had alighted into the arena.

"Thanks, kid." She said. "You really saved my ass there."

"I was glad to." He said, grinning. "It was all I could do after getting to see a duel like that. You're amazing!" His accent was clipped and precise, indicative of a somewhat more well-to-do homeworld than her own.

Max laughed. "I'm not as good as you think, but thanks anyway." She patted him on the shoulder. "I really gotta get going, but thanks again for helping me out there."

The Padawan grinned, and gave her a thumbs up. "It was nothing." He said.

Max returned the gesture, and made to leave. Just before she reached the doorway, she turned back. "Hey kid!" She said. "What's your name?"

The kid's grin hadn't left his face for even a second. "I'm Obi-Wan, nice to meet you!"

Max weaved her speeder carefully through Coruscant's ever-congested airborne traffic. It wasn't _her_ speeder, per se. It was an old, grey, battered model that had a worrying habit of rattling loudly every few seconds. Max wished she didn't have to pilot this flying scrap heap, but the guy at the Temple had assured her it would help her blend in. Thankfully, it had a closed cockpit, so at least she wasn't open to the elements.

Behind her, W4-R3N emitted a series of short, staccato beeps. A screen on the dash flickered into life, displaying a translated read-out of W4-R3N's electronic language.

[This speeder sucks.] He said. [This speeder sucks and I am surprised we have not been incinerated in a giant fireball already.]

"Not helping." Max mumbled as the speeder gave a violent lurch.

[I know. I just felt I should inform you this speeder is dangerously close to being legally unsafe to fly. According to my diagnostics, anyway.]

"Oh, well, great." Max grimaced. "Exactly what I needed to hear."

[You are welcome.]

Max's eyebrow travelled up her forehead by an increment. "You know, I'm beginning to understand why you were the only droid left."

[I couldn't possibly comment on that. Alert, my internal map of Coruscant is indicating we are nearing our destination.]

"Thanks. I'll find a place to set her down."

A few minutes later, Max landed as gently as possible amidst a plume of belching smoke and groaning metal. Not ten seconds after she set down, the electronics sparked, and the engines shut down with a sound eerily similar to that of a dying mynock. Max eyed the unresponsive controls with distaste.

"Well, I guess we're finding alternate transport back." She said to W4-R3N.

He whistled. Max had the distinct feeling he agreed.

She checked her datapad. "Alright, according to this, Peej hangs around in a warehouse a few minute's walk from here." She stowed the device in a pouch attached to her thigh. "No time like the present." She said, unenthusiastically.

Jedi and droid set off, and soon found themselves winding their way through dank, seedy alleyways, crowded with species from thousands of different worlds. Grimy plasteel and overly bright neon and holograms seemed to be the overriding theme. Everywhere Max looked, she found something new to set her on edge. After a Twi'lek, who was obviously a prostitute, tried to make an advance on her, Max decided to keep her head down and avoid eye contact at all costs.

It came as a relief when, a few minutes later, she arrived at the entrance to the warehouse. Rather than go straight in, she kept off to the side and studied the entryway. A large, sullen-looking mon calamari stood guarding it. As Max watched, a small, shifty looking zabrak approached and began to exchange a few words with the guard. Evidently, the guard didn't like what he had to say, because after a few seconds, the zabrak was physically picked up and thrown into a wall, where he slid to the floor, unconscious.

Max nervously checked her lightsaber was still in its hiding place inside her jacket. She realised she was nervous.

 _You can do this._ She thought. _A Jedi feels no fear. You are one with the Force, and the Force is with you._

Repeating that mantra over and over in her head, Max walked up to the mon calamari.

"What the fuck do you want?" He said as Max neared.

 _Good start._ Max dryly observed.

"I'm here to see Peej." Max said, trying to make her voice as steady and authoritative as she could. "I've got business with him."

"Ain't no one here by that name. Now piss off." The mon calamari growled at her, narrowing his bulbous eyes.

Max sighed internally. She had hoped to talk her way in naturally, but at that moment, there was probably more chance of Mace Windu showing and performing an impromptu dance recital.

She raised a hand, and reached for the Force.

"I'm a good friend of Peej, and you're going to let me pass." She said.

The mon calamari's eyes glazed over. "You're a good friend of Peej's and I'm going to let you pass." He repeated.

"Thank you."

"You are welcome." He said automatically. Then, "You wanna buy some glitterstim? It makes you feel all kinds of good."

Max made a disgusted face. "No. You're not going to sell me glitterstim."

"I'm not going to sell you glitterstim."

"You want to go home, get rid of your stash, and apply for a job."

"I want to get rid of my stash and apply for a job."

"A _legal_ one."

"Yes. A _legal_ job."

The mon calamari promptly lumbered off, leaving the entrance unguarded.

"That... wasn't so bad." Max said to herself.

W4-R3N tootled happily, and followed her into the warehouse.

The inside of the warehouse, while spacious and possessed of semi-decent interior lighting, still managed to be dingy and mostly depressing. A few people, mostly humanoids, were dotted about, probably conducting business that wasn't entirely legal. A YT-1200 model freighter caught her eye, mostly because of the giant red dragon painted down one side of the hull. The pilot was crouched on top, no doubt repairing something, judging from the sparks arcing gracefully through the air.

Max stuck to the outskirts, combing the room in search of Peej. It didn't take long to find him. The rodian was wearing a highly colourful outfit, consisting of a red and purple jacket, gold pants and what could only be described as an extra fluffy ruff. He stuck out like a sore thumb next to the drab grey of everything else in sight.

W4-R3N beeped something. Max got the impression he'd said the droid version of "You have to be kidding me."

"Yeah, me too, buddy." She said.

She wandered over to her target, trying to make it seem like she wasn't making a beeline straight for him. When she was about twenty feet away, he noticed her.

"My my," he said, rubbing his green hands together, "what's a dainty little thing like you doing here, and what can humble Peej do for you?"

Max decided he was definitely the creepiest individual she had met that week. She forced herself to suppress a shudder.

"I'm interested in... security, you could say." She began. "I heard you're the guy to talk to about that."

Sensing a sales opportunity, Peej moved closer and spoke conspiratorially. "Whoever you heard from was right. Peej has the very best stuff. And what, pray tell, is the young girl after? Surveillance? Or perhaps personal protection?" He leered at her. "There are many _unsavoury_ types out there who might take an interest in girl like yourself."

Max couldn't help it. She shot him a disgusted glare. "I can take care of myself, thank you." She said, coldly.

She removed the hexagonal disruption from a pocket, and slammed it down on a nearby canister. "You're gonna tell me who you sold this to, and where I can find them. _Now._ "

At the sight of the device, Peej recoiled. "Peej know nothing about that, Peej swears."

"You're lying to me." Max intoned, with as much gravitas as she could muster.

Peej backed away. "Peej isn't lying. He would never-"

Max had had enough. She grabbed him by the ruff and slammed him up against the wall. "Listen slimeball." She growled. "You're gonna tell me, or there's gonna be thousands more people _just like me_ who are gonna have the same question." She opened her jacket, revealing the lightsaber nestled within. "Understand?"

Peej's eyes widened dramatically. "OK, OK." He said. "Peej sold it to a bounty hunter, but he never said his name, Peej swears. But, Peej did happen to overhear they were based in the Outer Rim, near the Maw."

Max nodded. "Thank you for your … cooperation."

Peej's expression brightened. "Peej always cooperates with Jedi. Peej is-"

"You say Peej one more time, and I'm gonna punch you in the face _so hard._ "

Peej shrank into himself, almost quaking in terror. "Pee- I mean, I won't."

"Thank you." Max gave him a fake smile, and turned to leave.

"One more thing, Jedi."

She turned back towards him. "What?"

"I may have heard a name. For who the bounty hunter was working for."

"Tell me!" Max implored him.

"He was working for someone named-"

Peej never finished his sentence. A blaster shot rang out, deafeningly loud in the otherwise quiet space of the warehouse. Peej's head snapped backwards, and he crumpled to the floor, a charred, gaping hole where one of his eyes had been.

Max whirled round, scrambling to extract her lightsaber from within her jacket. She barely got it out before a second blaster bolt was fired her way. She ignited the white-hot blade, just in time to deflect the bolt harmlessly into the floor.

Three figures, clad in black glossy armour, were running her way, seemingly completely unafraid of the lightsaber. They were carrying heavy blaster rifles, which they opened fire with after dropping into firing stances.

Max went into defensive mode, deflecting the storm of blaster fire as best she could. She managed to bounce a few bolts back at them, but the reflected bolts didn't even make a scratch on their armour.

 _What the hell is that stuff made out of?!_ Max desperately thought.

Spying a nearby crate, she sent it flying towards them with the Force. They avoided it easily, but it was enough time for Max to close the remaining distance between them. Tough as their armour was, it was still no match for a lightsaber.

She jabbed the firing chamber of the first enemy's blaster, and when he next tried to fire, it exploded, blowing away his hand in a cloud of gristle and burnt flesh. As he screamed, Max quickly thrust into and out the other side of his abdomen, severing his spine. He crumpled, and Max turned to the next enemy.

He fired twice. Max easily deflected both bolts, one directly back into his helmeted face. He grunted in pain as the force of the bolt snapped his head backwards. Max capitalized on the opportunity with a single, targeted Force push. His neck bent even further backwards, and even through the sounds of combat and screams from the few bystanders, a sickening crack could be heard as his neck broke.

With the adrenaline of combat surging through her system, Max turned towards where the last of them had been. He was nowhere to be found.

"What the-" Max managed to say, before a round, beeping object arced through the air, and landed a few feet from her. Max blanched. It was a thermal detonator.

"Oh shi-!"

It exploded. It wasn't close enough to kill her, but the powerful shockwave sent her tumbling through the air, where she smashed into a crate. Her lightsaber dropped from her limp hand, rolling across the floor until a black boot stopped it.

"Tough luck, Jedi." The black-armoured soldier said, in a voice artificially deepened by his helmet. He raised his blaster. "Time to be one with the Force."

Too dazed by the explosion to do anything, Max could only shut her eyes, and await the inevitable.

A blaster fired, but no searing pain came with it.

Max opened her eyes. The soldier lay dead at her feet, a neat hole burned entirely through his head.

A figure ran over, and Max vaguely recognised it as the pilot of the YT-1200 she had noticed earlier.

"Holy shit, are you alright?" The pilot said. Then, "Wait, MAX?!"

The pilot pulled off her helmet, revealing a head of bright blue hair.

Max's eyes went wide. Her mouth fell open in a perfect "O" of surprise.

"Chloe?!"

 **Author's Note:** In honour of Carrie. May the Force always be with her.

And there we have it, the first appearance of one Chloe Price!  
I know, this chapter took forever to write. I wanted to get it out before Christmas, but obviously I completely failed at that. But better late than never, right? I hope you all enjoyed it, and it didn't come off as cliched or boring. Confession: I've never actually written action scenes before, so let me know if they suck.  
Also, I couldn't resist a little Rogue One reference. Go see the movie! It's amazing!  
I'm hoping to have the next chapter up in the first couple of weeks of January. If I don't, feel free to angrily demand it, it'll probably force me to stop procrastinating (because I'm a terrible person and play videogames instead of writing). I'll see you all next year, and may the Force be hella with you.


	4. Chapter 4 - Chloe

**Chapter 4 – Chloe**

"What are you-"

"-Doing here?!"

The two women stared at each other, lost for words. In the aftermath of the brief skirmish, the silence was almost palpable. Fortunately, it only lasted for a few moments. Chloe cleared her throat, only somewhat awkwardly, and extended a hand to Max.

Max took it, and Chloe pulled her to her feet.

"Thanks." Max said. She dusted herself down and rearranged her rumpled clothing. Her lightsaber was still on the ground, next to the last soldier's smoking corpse. She reached out, and the lightsaber casually flew into her hand.

Chloe's eyes widened, and then narrowed. She looked at Max, at the lightsaber, and then at the other two dead bodies lying on the ground. "So, you're a Jedi now, huh?" She said, in a tone that Max could've sworn was almost accusatory.

"Of course I am." She said, a little perplexed. "I thought you knew-"

She was cut short by a number of shouts from outside the warehouse. A second later, a full squad of Coruscant's designated tactical underworld police force rushed through the entrance, bearing more heavy blaster rifles, and even a collapsible turret mount. As Max and Chloe were the only two lifeforms left in the warehouse, they ran straight for them, shouting warnings.

"Conversation can wait!" Chloe said. "Run!"

"But I'm a Jedi." Max said. "I'm sure if I just talk to them we can-"

The police squad opened fire.

"OK, maybe not!" Max finished.

Chloe grabbed her arm and roughly pulled Max towards her ship. Blaster bolts whizzed by their heads, coming close enough for Max to feel a burst of heat every time one flew past her cheeks. They scrambled up the landing ramp, with Chloe hitting the emergency close button on her way up. She headed straight for the cockpit and threw herself into the pilot's seat, beginning the start-up sequence even before her butt landed on the scuffed leather.

Max barely managed to get herself into the co-pilot's seat before Chloe hit the master ignition switch, forcing the ship into life. A blast rocked them, momentarily knocking them off-balance.

"Shit!" Chloe exclaimed. "They must have set that turret up." She gritted her teeth. "Hold on to your ass!" She yanked hard on the stick, pitching the nose up sharply. She slammed the throttle up to maximum, and the freighter launched itself into the air with a roar from the engines, vaporising a few members of the tactical squad in the process.

Once they were a couple of minutes away, Chloe let out a shuddering breath, and allowed herself to relax into her seat. "I think we're good." She said. She weaved the YT-1200 with practised ease through the dense traffic of Coruscant's underworld. Eventually, she brought the ship to a surprisingly graceful rest on a hidden landing pad sandwiched between two buildings. Max had been silent for the entire duration of the journey, unsure of what to say.

Chloe shut down the engines, and swivelled her chair until it faced Max. She fixed her with an inquisitive stare.

"So." Chloe broke the silence. "You wanna tell me just what the hell you were doing in one of the shittiest parts of this whole shitty planet? And why you were impaling people like they were Hosnian kebabs?"

Max considered for a moment. Her assignment was top secret, and the Council had expressly ordered her not to divulge any details, but on the other hand, Chloe _had_ just saved her life, and even though they hadn't seen each other in years, Max felt she could still trust Chloe.

She decided on the truth. Or part of it, at least. "I was on an assignment. Jedi stuff, y'know?" It sounded lame, and Chloe's expression indicated she thought as much.

"Right, right. I bet it's all super clandestine and you can't talk about it. Am I close?" Chloe said.

Max rubbed the back of her neck. "Basically, yeah." She said sheepishly.

Chloe's expression darkened for a brief instant. "I thought you'd trust me enough to tell me more than that."

Max frowned. "What exactly is that supposed to mean?"

Chloe looked away, deliberately avoiding eye contact. "Nothing. C'mon, I need to pick up a couple of things from the place I'm staying, then I'll take you back to the more civilised parts of this dump." She got up and made for the airlock.

Not wanting to pick a fight, but also against her better judgement, Max swallowed her already-formed response, and followed. After exiting onto the landing pad and entering into a depressing looking apartment complex, Chloe took her through several corridors, across a short walkway and finally through an almost imperceptible side door.

"It's just round this corridor." Chloe said as they walked. "It's not as nice as your Jedi digs, but for a temporary place, it doesn't suck too hard."

"I'm sure it's-" Max began. She had meant to finish off with "nice", but as they rounded the corner, the word dies in her throat. There in front of the doorway leading into Chloe's accommodation, were six more of the black-armoured troops she had encountered back in the hanger. They had evidently arrived just in time, as one of the troops was placing a small, remotely detonated explosive onto the door.

Max and Chloe didn't even hesitate. Without looking at each other, both drew their respective weapons. At the _snap-hiss_ of Max's lightsaber igniting, all six troops whirled round.

"Hello there." Max said wryly.

"Kriff! No one said anything about Jedi!" One of them said.

"Shut up and open fire!" Yelled another.

They levelled their blasters, and did just that.

Max deflected the first volley with ease, though she was careful not to direct any of the bolts towards Chloe. Though after a second, it didn't matter, as Chloe had taken cover behind a protruding wall strut.

Max tried to go on the offensive, but the squad was firing so often that all she could do was concentrate on deflecting the lethal energy bolts. Suddenly, blaster bolts began to fly the opposite direction, towards the enemy troops. She risked a quick look behind her, and saw Chloe, a vicious snarl on her face and firing as fast as her blaster pistol allowed. Her blaster must have packed a punch, as the bolts carved through the thick black armour with ease, downing two of them instantly and forcing the rest into cover.

Seeing a window, Max leapt forward, landing a good thirty feet away, and directly in the middle of the remaining four soldiers. Her lightsaber hummed, and an instant later two more were downed, one killed outright by a thrust through the heart, and the second sent to the floor screaming, gripping the cauterized stump of his right leg.

The final two, seeing how hopeless their situation was, tried to flee. But it was to no avail. Chloe picked off one with a shot to the back of the neck, and Max dispatched the other by Force pushing him out of a nearby window. He screamed as he dropped out of view, until a few seconds later when it was abruptly cut off. Chloe poked her head out of the shattered remains of the window, and looked down. "Damn..." She said when she saw the twisted, mangled body of the soldier, who had unfortunately landed on, and subsequently crushed, the roof of a parked speeder.

Max approached the only remaining member of the squad, who had crawled over to his missing leg, and was now pressing it futilely against his stump. He appeared to be in a state of shock.

She crouched down next to him. "How did you know I was going to be here?" She questioned him. "Tell me, and I'll make sure you're fitted with a decent replacement.

He looked at her. Even through the helmet, Max could tell he was tempted by the offer. But, before he could say anything, a blaster shot tore its way through the centre of his forehead. He slumped over, killed instantly.

Max turned, to find Chloe lowering a smoking blaster. "Why did you kill him, he could've given us valuable information!"

"No, he couldn't." Chloe replied, condescendingly. "All these guys are low level, they don't know anything. Trust me."

"Trust you? How can I trust you after you shot him in cold blood? And how the hell do you know so much about what _they_ know?" Max accused her.

Chloe glared. "Because they're all commanded by a bounty hunter. A bounty hunter who- who I used to work for." She looked away again. "He must have found out where I was staying, and sent these idiots to kill me. Just like he probably sent those three guys you ran into to kill Peej. No loose ends."

Max was momentarily floored. "Wha- you _worked_ with these guys? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I thought I'd gotten away clean. Guess I was wrong." Chloe bitterly responded.

"Chloe, if you're mixed up in this too, you need to come with me to the Temple. Right now." Max said to her.

Chloe hesitated, clearly unsure what the best course of action was. "I..." She began.

"Look, Chloe, they know where you live. If you stay here, they're just gonna keep sending more and more people to try and kill you until they succeed. Come with me. Please." Max implored.

Chloe scrunched her eyes up in frustration. She was going to regret this. "Fine." She acquiesced. "Just let me grab a few things first."

Max nodded. "I'll keep a look out."

Without a word, Chloe disappeared into the dwelling. Meanwhile, Max closed her eyes, and let her senses travel outwards. She immediately sensed thousands of lifeforms in the surrounding few hundred metres alone, but none of them were heading their way or seemed to harbour ill will towards them. Satisfied, she opened her eyes just as Chloe emerged, carrying a hold-all under her arm.

"Let's go." She said.

Chloe set her ship down on a vacant Temple landing pad. She gazed, wide-eyed, out of the cockpit. "Holy shit, I never realised just how _big_ this place is." She said.

"Yeah, though it's a nightmare to walk around." Max replied.

The comms system crackled to life, and a voice filtered out of the console. "Attention unidentified vessel: you have made an unauthorised landing on Temple grounds. Please state your business or leave immediately."

Recognising the voice, Max jumped on the comms. "Brooke, it's Max. Can you tell me if any of the council are available? It's urgent."

"Max? What are you doing in that beat up piece of junk?"

"I've never wanted to punch a voice so hard before." Chloe said through gritted teeth.

"Brooke. Not now." Max said.

"Alright, whatever." The voice over the console said. There was silence for a long moment, and then "You're in luck. One of the Masters _is_ free. He'll meet you in the briefing rooms on the ground floor."

"Great, thanks Brooke."

Brooke just clicked the comms in response.

"It'll take a while to walk, so we should get going if we don't want to keep him waiting." Max prompted.

Chloe nodded, and the two disembarked, heading towards the meeting place at the briefing rooms. Even at an elevated walking place, it still took several minutes.

"I see what you mean." Chloe said, a little out of breath. "You guys _really_ need a better way of getting around this place."

"Right?" Max agreed.

Eventually, they entered into the nest of briefing rooms, with Chloe following Max to the sole unoccupied one. They crossed the threshold, and were greeted by tall, bald Jedi with one of the smoothest voices Chloe had ever heard. Max seemed to respect him, because she bowed before greeting him verbally.

"Master." She said, with an obvious intonation of politeness.

"Max." He returned the greeting. "Who is your companion?" He asked, turning his attention towards Chloe.

"Master, this is Chloe Price. She's a frie- she has valuable information relating to the break in." Max informed him. "Chloe, this is Mace Windu: Jedi Master and the greatest warrior in the Order."

"Nice to meet you, never met a legit Jedi Master before." Chloe said in a friendly tone. Though, privately, she couldn't help but notice Max's last second switch-out of the word "friend". She looked at Max, narrowing her eyes ever so slightly.

Mace had noticed it too. For a second, he took a step back and looked at the two young women. Not with his eyes, but through the Force. For Mace had an unusual gift: he was able to see how individuals were connected, through an ability that let the practitioner see fault lines in the Force, known as shatterpoints. These shatterpoints occasionally occurred around events, but more often between people, and as Mace looked at Max and Chloe, he could see an intricate web of faults surrounding them. They were quite faint, but there were dozens, if not hundreds of them. Clearly, these two had their immediate fate bound up in each other. Mace made a mental note to monitor the two of them, just in case. Returning to the present, Mace looked directly at Max.

"You said Ms Price had important information?"

Max nodded. "Yes, Master. There's a bounty hunter involved, commanding what appears to be a sizable group, possibly operating out of the Maw." Max went on to explain what had happened on level 1313, how she had found Peej, and how Chloe had found and saved her. Mace remained implacably stoic throughout the explanation, only raising an eyebrow briefly when Max mentioned Chloe's previous employment under the bounty hunter.

"Thank you, Max." Mace said when she finished. He turned his attention to Chloe. "How exactly were you involved?"

Chloe took a breath. "I'd worked with the bounty hunter before, through a few jobs that needed a... person like me: someone who can both discretely move a certain number of assets from place to place, and also get in and out of anywhere, no matter the security."

"You're a smuggler." Mace stated.

Chloe nodded. "Not just _a_ smuggler. I'm _the_ smuggler, which is why I'm guessing he hired me. I only know his first name; Nathan, but he's the prodigal son of a wealthy and powerful Mandalorian clan, judging from the occasional bit of info he let slip. He hired me and my... former partner to break into your Temple here."

At the words "former partner", Chloe happened to see Max's eyebrows shoot up her forehead, but only for a second.

"And did you? Break into the Temple?" Mace prompted.

Chloe shook her head. "No. We didn't like the sound of it, so we declined. That's how Peej and his disruptors became involved, he must have e been the backup plan in case we split."

Mace frowned, drawing his brows together. "You refused the contract? Just like that?"

"Yeah." Chloe said, defiantly.

 _She's lying._ Max thought. _That or she's not telling the entire truth._

If Mace had detected the falsehood,he didn't react. "Very well." He said. "Max, you should take Ms Price with you, she may be of great use as a former contractee of this bounty hunter. I'm sending you both to investigate this facility in the Maw. You are to report back with any new information you find."

"We'll set off at once, Master Windu." Max bowed, and motioned to Chloe for them to leave.

Once they were safely out of the room, Mace sat back in his chair, deep in thought. He pushed a button on his comlink, and a moment later a familiar voice trickled through the speaker.

"Master Windu. A pleasure it is, to converse with you. On your mind, something there is?" Said Yoda.

"Master Yoda." Mace greeted his colleague. "I just met with young Starfield..." He proceeded to inform the diminutive Jedi master of everything he had heard in the last few minutes.

At the end of it, Yoda was silent for a good few moments. "Observe them carefully, we should. A dangerous influence, this smuggler could prove to be. I sense a history between them, _hrm_ yes."

"I agree." Mace said. "Their destinies are linked, of that I am sure. To what end, though, I do not know."

Yoda sighed. "A bad feeling about this, I have."

The landing ramp had barely even closed before Chloe rounded on Max.

"What in the Sith-spitting hell was that?" She demanded.

"What was what?" Max asked, genuinely bemused.

"You know damn well what." Chloe retorted. "Back there, you were about to say "friend", and then you ditched it midway through the word. What gives?"

"Chloe, it didn't mean anything. It- it just would've complicated things if they knew we were friends." Max tried to placate her.

"Sure. Of course it didn't _mean anything._ You wouldn't understand." Chloe was glaring, crossing her arms in defiance.

Max decided to try once more to calm her. "Chloe, I know you're angry-"

"I'm not angry!" Chloe said, angrily.

Max sighed. "I know you're angry, but it won't help if you don't tell me why. I'm your friend, remember."

"Are you?" Chloe scoffed.

Try as she might, Max could only tolerate so much of Chloe's standoffishness before she snapped. She knew she was meant to be a Jedi, and not give in to anger or passion, but Chloe was irritating her beyond words.

"Look." Max said icily. "We can either spend the whole damn day arguing like this, or you can stop being cryptic for two fucking seconds and _tell me what's wrong!"_

All the bluster and pride seemed to vanish from Chloe. She fixed Max with a pointed look. "Fine. I'll tell you what's wrong." She took two strides, bringing herself within a foot of Max's face. She was so close Max could see her struggling not to cry.

Chloe opened her mouth, and spoke quietly.

"I wanna know why you abandoned me."

 **Author's Note:** Oh my god so much plot. How do people do this all the time (it probably doesn't help I'm used to writing one-off fluffy shenanigans). And if you thought the back half of this chapter was dialogue heavy, boy, the next chapter is gonna be even heavier (and I am positively terrified of writing it).

And yep, Nathan is our bounty hunter. How many of you saw that coming, as honestly I thought it was pretty obvious, maybe?

I'm running out of things to say, as I'm exceedingly tired, but hopefully it won't take me as long to write the next chapter. Hopefully. Oh god.  
May the Force be hella with you.


End file.
